healthy fats

Healthy Fats We seem to be approaching the point that the phrase “healthy fat” is not an oxymoron. Some fat in the diet is again becoming acceptable. We are not to the point of understanding which fats are healthy and which are not.

​ “A Presidential Advisory” from the American Heart Association states:“In summary, randomized controlled trials that lowered intake of dietary saturated fat and replaced it with polyunsaturated vegetable oil reduced CVD by ≈30%, similar to the reduction achieved by statin treatment.” Some things do not change, even in the face of clear evidence to the contrary.

Gary Taubes’ article gives a very clear understanding of how the AHA recommendation is based on false premises. Like the cholesterol theory of Ancel Keys, the “polyunsaturated fats (PUFA’s) are good for you” theory is based on selecting the data that is favorable to the theory and ignoring the overwhelming contrary evidence. Gary Taubes undermines the four clinical trials upon which the recommendation is based, and asks why so many legitimate clinical trials with a different conclusion are ignored. The PUFA theory also defies what we know about the human body and what we know about these oils. Polyunsaturated fats are very susceptible to going rancid (oxidizing) on the shelf, and equally subject to oxidation (free radical creation) in the human body.

We might step back and see that each type of fat – saturated (e.g., animal, coconut), monounsaturated (olive oil), and polyunsaturated (omega-3, omega-6) – is good for us in the right proportion and from a natural source. We need different types of fat for different applications. For example, every cell membrane requires a lipid layer around it. For cells that require more rigidity, a greater proportion of saturated fats provide this stability. For cells that require more flexibility, polyunsaturated fats are in larger proportion.Inflammation in the event of an injury is a good thing, and we need omega-6 oils for this. Anti-inflammatory omega-3 is good for calming inflammation when its work is done.

We tend to think of each oil as saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated. In fact, no oil is totally one kind. For example, search “olive oil nutrition label” and you see the labels vary. A good consensus on the fats in a serving of olive oil is saturated fat comprises 2g, polyunsaturated 1g, and monounsaturated 10g. Corn oil gives nominal figures of 2g, 7g, and 4g. Coconut oil is one of the few oils almost entirely one type of fat with 13g, .5g, and .5g – more than 90% saturated fat.

An interesting article compares cow milk versus human breast milk. In 100g of milk, cow’s milk has 2.5g saturated, 1.0g monounsaturated, and .1g polyunsaturated fat. The numbers for breast milk are 1.8g, 1.6g, and .5g. The fat profile is quite different because cows grow large physical bodies rapidly (more saturated fat) while the human grows modest sized bodies with larger brains more slowly (proper mix of omega-6 and omega-3 DHA and EPA polyunsaturated oils, e.g.). There are many other differences between the nutrition of cow’s milk and human milk (low iron and Vitamins C and D; high protein and sodium, among others, e.g.) that make cow’s milk a dangerous choice for infants.

Nature has provided the fats that we need. Now, machinery and enhanced extraction techniques (makes one think of “enhanced interrogation techniques”) extract oils from sources that were never available before. A video here presents the process. Chemical washes, solvents, removing metals that may have fallen in, sodium hydroxide wash, bleaching, etc., are all presented as though this unnatural industrialized food process is a good thing! Unnatural polyunsaturated oils throw us off balance. For example, high omega-6 oil as part of a serving of corn will be a miniscule amount, easily balanced in a well-rounded diet. But extracted and concentrated as vegetable oil, there will be a high proportion of the pro-inflammatory omega-6 oil. We need some omega-6 oil, but in balance (2:1 ratio perhaps) with omega-3 oil. And these polyunsaturated oils cannot replace the saturated and monounsaturated oils that have their own functions in our bodies, or there will be negative consequences due to using substandard materials!

The human body was designed to eat whole foods in season found in nature in the area a person called home. We now eat processed foods year round from all over the world. Many of these “industrial foods” have little or no nutritional value, and often actually undermine health, as with hydrogenated oils high fructose corn syrup. Fats are a fact of life, in the construction of the human body and in the diet to properly maintain health. Real food for real people in proper balance is a good strategy for good health.Next article